Shooting incidents in Arab Israeli communities have dropped by 37% this year, the Israel Police reported Thursday.
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The drop in shootings comes as police ramp up activity in Arab communities in an operation dubbed "Safe Route," according to The Times of Israel.
As of February 2022, there have been 664 shooting incidents, compared to 1,052 during the same period in 2021.
The police have carried out actions against 386 targets since the operation began last year, the report said.
Some 280 suspects were arrested, of whom 180 were indicted, and hundreds of weapons were seized. Officers also foiled 25 planned murders by criminal organizations and gangs in the past four months, with 11 indictments filed for attempted murder.
"On the one hand, we see a significant increase in arrests… and on the other hand a significant decrease in the number of shooting incidents," said Cmdr. Yigal Ezra, a senior officer in a unit whose goal is fighting crime in Arab society.
"At the same time, our officers recently thwarted a series of assassination plans while carrying out impressive intelligence work and reaching the criminals before the shooting," Ezra added.
i24NEWS contributed to this report.
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